Method of flying toy airplane and means therefor



J. E. GRANT Sept. 20, 1955 METHOD OF FLYING TOY AIRPLANE AND MEANSTHEREFOR 2 Sheets-Sheet l I 4; \w/zj 23 Filed Feb. 4, 1950 fiSE'PHGemvr,

INVENTOR.

J. E. GRANT Sept. 20, 1955 METHOD OF FLYING TOY AIRPLANE AND MEANSTHEREFOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 4. 1950 JOSEPH en/v7;

INVENTOR.

United States Patent C) METHOD OF FLYING TGY AIRPLANE AND MEANS THEREFORJoseph E. Grant, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application February 4,1950, SerialNo. 142,475-

12 Claims. (Cl. 4681) This invention relates to a novel method ofimparting free flight to miniature or toy airplanes and includes meanswhereby substantially continuous flight of a toy airplanev may beattained.

Heretofore toy airplanes have been powered with various simple motorsand rotation imparted to a. propeller or other device by. means oftension motors, such as the well-known rubber band type, clockwork,springs, or even miniature internal combustion engines. More rudimentarytypes of toy airplanes, more properly termed gliders, depended entirelyupon initial impetus given the airplane or glider and as a result, theglide path was uncontrolled, erratic and of very short duration.

The present invention relates to a method whereby a small airplane canbe caused to fly in a controlled manner without physical contact ormechanical connection with the operator or ground and without the use ofa motor carried by the airplane. Flights of extreme duration and underthe control of an operator can be attained. Level fiight is the simplestform attained by the performance of the method herein disclosed,although turns, loops, and other aerial maneuvers can be performed by amore skilled operator.

Generally stated, the method of the present invention employs a simple,light-weight, miniature or toy airplane, preferably having certaindistinguishing characteristics which will be described hereinafter. Inimparting controlled but free flight to such airplane, the toy airplaneis initially, temporarily supported in space, as by hand. A virtuallyvertical baflle is then moved beneath the airplane in a directiontransverse to the plane of the baflie and in the desired direction offlight of the airplane, the support is released and the movement of thebaflle is continued. Movement of the baffle plate gives rise to an updraft and the airplane rides along onsuch up draft out of contact withthe baffie and totally unsupported by an extraneous object. Thedirection of flight may be controlled by varying the plane occupied bythe moving baflle; height of the airplane above the upper edge of thebathe may be variedby either increasing or decreasing the rate at whichthe baflle is moved; the airplane may be caused to perform controlledturns or banks by pivoting the baffle (upon an axis perpendicular to itsplane) during movement of the baflle along such axis; and other motionscan be imparted to the airplane by controlling the movement and positionof the bafile.

The airplane may be maintainedin free flight for prolonged periods oftime and the distance traveled by the airplane may vary with the walkingability of the operator manipulating the battle. The method of operationherein disclosed may be utilized in devising and executing manypredetermined maneuvers or in performing predetermined maneuvers, suchas landing, precision bombing, or the like.

It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to disclose a novelmethod of controllably flying toy airplanes without physical contactbetween the airplane andthe operator or the ground.

Another'object of the invention is to disclose and provide a method ofcontrollably flying toy. airplanes which are free from'motors, airscrews, or other air-lift devices carried by the airplane.

Again, an object of the present invention is to disclose and providesimple, light-weight means. whereby controllable flight may be impartedto. toy airplanes.

A still further object of the invention ism-disclose and provideconditions, proportions and arrangements whereby toy airplanes may bemade and caused to fly without usual power means.

These and various other objects and advantages of the present inventionwill becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from the followingdescription of the modes. of operation and devices embraced. by thepresent invention. In order to facilitate understanding, reference. willbe had to the appended drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a toy. airplane inflight in accordancewith the invention.

Fig. 2 is a somewhat enlarged side elevation of an airplane in-flightabove a moving baflle, only a portion of the battle being illustrated.

Figs. 3, 4fland 5 are. back, side and plan elevations, respectively, ofa baffle plane which may be employed. in carrying out the method.

Fig. 6 is atop'rear view of a portion of a bathe plane provided with adifferent form of meansfor attaching the baflle to the hand of anoperator.

Fig. 7 is a perspectivefront view of a modifiedform of baflie.

Figs. 8 and 9 are a plan elevation and a rear elevation, respectively,of a toy airplane adapted for use in performance of the method.

The mode of. operatiorrwill be readily understood by referring toFigs. land 2, wherein a. small toy airplane, generally indicated at 10; isshownin flight. The airplane itself may comprise a fuselage stick 1 1.(made of lightweight material such as balsa wood, an organic plastic, orthe like) provided with a wing. 12. (preferably rectangular in plan orat leastincluding a leading edge perpendicular tothe plane ofsymmetry),such'wing being made of some light-weight material bent orotherwiseformed to produce a concave lower surface (best illustrated inFig. 2). The wing, may be. made of veneer, sheet plastic (such as any ofthe cellulosic derivatives) or heavy rolled or coated paper. Stay pinsor struts 17 may extend through openings near edge areas of the. wing tomaintain a desired wing curvature. The wing may be attached to thefuselage 11 by pins, adhesive, clips or a band. In most instancesit isdesirable that the, ends of the wing 12 beprovided with tips 13 at adihedral to the wing proper.

It may be noted, however, that for best results it. is desirable thatthe wing 12 be located toward the rear of the fuselage stick 11, therear carrying both. horizontal and vertical surface means such asthehorizontal plane 14 and the upstanding, vertical surfaces 15. Thedistance between the trailing edge of the wing 12. and the leading edgeof the horizontal surface 14 should be short, that is, between2 in. and5 in., and in most instances such. distance is. substantially equal tothe chord length or width of. the. wing 12. Differently stated, it maybe said that the leading edge of, the wing 12. is preferably beyond themidpoint of the fuselage. 11.

The. baflle member illustrated in Fig. 1 consists of a virtuallyplanebaffle 20 provided with means for attaching the bafile to the hand of anoperator. In Fig. 1 the. hand of the operator is shown extending beneatha strap 21 carried by the rear surface of the bafile 20, therebypermitting the hand of the operator to extend beneath. the strap 21, thebaffle becoming an extension of the palm of' the operator. Such baflle20 may be made of any light-weight material, such as thin veneer or evenpaperboard reinforced with corrugations and laminated. The frontalsurface area of such baffle may vary from about 0.5 sq. ft. to 10 or 12sq. ft. but ordinarily a 2 to' sq. ft. baffle is adequate. The frontalarea of the baffle is preferably three or more times as great as theplan form area of the wing of the airplane.

As indicated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, the bafile plane 20 may be providedwith a slightly cylindrico-concave face 22 and may be generallytrapezoidal in form, the bottom edge 23 being substantially horizontal,whereas the side edges 24 and 25 incline downwardly and toward eachother. The upper edge 26 may be slightly concave so as to leave rounded,upstanding corners indicated at 27 and 28. The slight curvature orconvexity may be imparted to the baffle 20 by steaming, forming or inthe event reinforced corrugated and laminated paper is employed, thecorrugations preferably extend in a direction parallel to the bottomedge 23 and preformed, thin metallic bars or wires may be introducedinto such corrugations, the curvature of the bars or wires imparting thedesired curvature to the entire baflie.

In actual use, the toy airplane is suspended in space temporarily bybeing held by a wing tip or by its fuselage with one hand, whereas theother hand of the operator is caused to move the baffle 20 from aposition in the rear of the toy airplane into a position beneath theairplane. The baflle plane is moved with its frontal surfacesubstantially vertical and in a direction transverse to the plane of thebaffle and in the desired direction of flight of the airplane. As suchbaffle reaches a position beneath the airplane, the temporary supportmay be released, but the movement of the baflle plane is continuedwithout interruption, the operator proceeding to walk and ifjtglllptwthe airplane which is now in free but. controlled By referring to Fig.2, it will be seen that when the bafiie plane 20 is. moved in thedirection of the arrow (from right to left) an up draft or upwardlyrismg current of air is generated, as indicated by the dashed arrows.The airplane 10 rides upon this up draft and it will be found that aslong as the movement of the baffle 20 is continued the airplane willcontinue in free flight a distance of from 3 in. to 1 ft. above theupper edge of the baflie 20, the height depending somewhat upon theconstructlon, gliding angle and weight of the airplane and the speed atwhich the battle is moved by the operator. Normally the baffie should beadvanced at a speed of between 150 ft. and 350 ft. per minute, althoughrunning speeds as high as 1000 or 1200 ft. per minute can be used. Theoperator may continue walking for prolonged periods of time with theairplane flying immediately above the baflle.

When it is desired to make a banking turn, the operator pivots thebafile 20 upon an axis transverse to the plane of the battle. If, forexample, an airplane is being maintained in flight as indicated in Fig.l, a partial rotation of the baflie 20 in a clockwise direction (whileits forward movement is continued) will cause the airplane 10 to performa clockwise banking turn. Such turning maneuvers are facilitated by theconcave upper edge 26 of the baffle, although the baflle may be providedwith a straight upper edge if desired. Furthermore, although thepreferred form of baflie plane includes downwardly and inwardly directedside margins 24 and 25 (Fig. 3) and such inclined sides facilitatepivoting of the baffle by eliminating undesired contact with the body ofthe operator during such pivotal movements, such margins 24 and 25 maybe virtually perpendicular to either the bottom margin 23 or the topmargin 26. It is to be understood that the drawings are simplyillustrative of desirable constructions but the invention is not limitedthereto.

Fig. 6 illustrates a modified form of construction which may be usedwherein the means for attaching the baflle to the hand of an operatorcomprises a pair of paperboard members carried by the rear face of thebaifie plane 20, said members acting to reinforce the baflie plane as.

well as furnish means for attachment to the hand. The rear surface ofbaflle plane 20 may carry one strip 31 stapled along a vertical edge asby means of staples 32,. such strip 31 being provided with a flap 33having an opening 34 therein. The other strip is attached to the back ofthe baffle plane 20' along a spaced vertical portion 35 and includes aflap 36 having a lip portion 37. The flap 36 may be provided with ahand-hold opening 38.

During shipment, the strips 32 and 36 are flattened against the rearsurface of the bafile plane 20. When it is ready to place the baffle incondition for use, the two flaps 33 and 36 are bent upwardly so as toform a triangle, the lip 37 being then stapled onto the edge areas ofthe flap 33 as by means of staples 39. The two handhold openings 34 and38 are in opposition, permitting a hand to be inserted therethrough forthe proper manipulation of the bafile plane. The triangular assembly orrib formed from these two strips of paperboard, paper or the like,materially stitfens the baffle plate and permits ready manipulationthereof. Other forms of construction (such as finger holes in thebatfle) will readily occur from the descriptions given herein.

A modified form of baffle illustrated in Fig. 7 includes avertical'groove formed in the face of the baflle. It has been found thatvertical grooves can be formed in the face of the baffle and facilitatethe maintenance and control of an airplane in flight. The simple form ofbaffle illustrated in Fig. 7 may be made from pressed board reinforcedwith horizontally extending corrugations between outer laniinations ofsmooth paper. A central portion of this board, indicated at 20", is bentoutwardly along lines 41 and 42 and inwardly along a vertical line 43 soas to form a triangular groove, the walls of such groove being providedwith opposing hand-hold openings 44. Relatively stiff wires 45, benttothe desired curvature, may then be inserted through some of thecorrugations of the baffle, such wires being exposed while bridging thetrough. The wires therefore maintain the triangular trough in its properform and at the same time impart a desired cylindrico-concave curvatureto the front of the baffle. Additional vertical grooves may be formed oneither side of the central groove. The construction illustrated in Fig.7 is advantageous in that the entire device can be readily flattened forshipment and is very easily assembled. In some instances it is desirableto position an auxiliary tape-like baffie across and in spaced relationto the front of the main baflle, said auxiliary baffle (shown in dashlines at 46) facilitating the production and control of an up draft andtending to maintain the front surface of the main battle in a desiredcurvature.

It is to be remembered that whenever reference is made to continuouslyadvancing the baflle in a direction virtually transverse to the plane ofthe baffle mathematical accuracy is not indicated. The vertical bafflemay be slightly inclined to the true vertical, and particularly whenmaking banking turns, the plane of the baffie may vary somewhat from thedirection of flight or the predetermined pathway which is beingtraversed.

The device herein described may be employed in the performance of themethod and numerous variations and amplifications of the method will bemade available to those proficient in the performance of the method. For

. example, a toy airplane 'may be caused to perform a loop by firstcausing the airplane to fly at a substantially uniform rate and then, byrapidly accelerating the motion of the baffle plate, the thus generated,increased up draft will cause the airplane to perform a loop. Anoperator of agility can rapidly move the baflle plane into proximitywith the airplane at the completion of its loop and again regain controlof such airplane, causing the latter to either climb to its originalaltitude or continue flying at a lower elevation. The plane may becaused to perform the equivalent of an Immelman turn by rapidlyacceleratof the upper corners of the baflle is at a higher elevationthan the other.

Proper balance and gliding angle may be imparted to the toy airplane bymoving a small weight, such as the weight 16, along the fuselage 11.When properly balanced, the airplane will glide for an appreciabledistance at a uniform angle of descent. As a result, a skilled operatorcan fly the model airplane for an appreciable period of time and thencause it to make a landing at a predetermined spot or within aprescribed circle. When in flight, the gliding angle can be increased byeither tilting the baflle or reducing the speed of movement of thebaifle with respect to the airplane so as to direct the up draft againstthe rear of the plane (tail assembly), while level or upward flight isobtained by permitting the plane of the baffle to be directed toward thefrontal or central portion of the Wing. By moving the baffle along anupwardly inclined path, the airplane will gain altitude; by moving thebaifle along a downwardly inclined path the airplane will lose altitude.

It is to be understood that various changes and modifications may bemade in the construction and assembly of the devices referred tohereinabove and all changes and modifications coming within the scope ofthe appended claims are embraced thereby.

I claim:

1. A method of controllably flying toy airplanes which comprises:temporarily supporting an airplane in space; moving a virtually verticalbafile plane beneath the airplane in a direction virtually transverse tothe plane of the baflle and in the desired direction of flight of theairplane to produce an upwardly directed stream of air; then releasingthe support and continuing the movement of the baflle plane at a ratesufiicient to maintain the airplane in free flight upon the upwardlydirected stream of air.

2. A method of controllably flying a toy airplane, which comprises:continuously advancing a virtually vertical baffle plane in a directionvirtually transverse to the plane of the bafile along a pathway toproduce an upwardly directed stream of air; and maintaining a toyairplane in free flight above said baflie by advancing the bafile at aspeed of between 150 ft. and 1000 ft. per minute.

3. In a method of the character stated in claim 2, the step of placingthe toy airplane into a controlled banking turn during flight whichcomprises partially rotating the baffle plane about an axis virtuallyperpendicular to the plane of the baffle while advancing the bafflealong the pathway.

4. In a method of the character stated in claim 2, the step ofcontrolling the vertical angle of flight of the airplane by varying theposition of the plane of the baflie with respect to the wing and tailsurfaces of the airplane.

5. In a method of the character stated in claim 2 wherein the baffle ismoved along a pathway inclined to the horizontal.

6. A device for maintaining and controlling a toy airplane in freeflight comprising: a baflle member of generally trapezoidal form, theupper marginal edge of the baflle member being concave and the frontsurface being concave, said member being of lightweight sheet materialand being provided with means for receiving the hand of an operatorwhile said hand is substantially parallel to the top and the bottom ofsaid member for attaching the baffle member to the hand of the operator.

7. A baffle of the character stated in claim 6 wherein the front surfacearea of the bafiie is between about 2 and 5 square feet.

8. A baflle of the character stated in claim 6 wherein the baffle isprovided with a virtually cylindrico-concave front surface.

9. A baflle of the character stated in claim 6, wherein the attachingmeans are carried by the rear surface of the baffle member.

10. A bafile of the character stated in claim 6, wherein the attachingmeans comprise a hollow, triangular, vertically extending reinforcingassembly provided with aligned hand holds, said means being carried byand extending rearwardly from the rear surface of the baffle member.

11. A device for maintaining and controlling a toy airplane in freeflight comprising: a thin bafile member of sheet material, said memberbeing generally trapezoidal in form and including downwardly convergingside margins, a substantially straight bottom margin and a concave uppermargin, the member being bent to present a cylindrico-concave front facehaving an area of between 0.5 and 12 square feet; and hand-holding meanscentrally disposed at the rear of the battle member and provided with anelongated hand-receiving aperture extending vertically.

12. A device of the character stated in claim 6, wherein the baflle ismade of laminated, corrugated board, with a vertically extending grooveformed in the face of the baffle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS183,045 Dunlop Oct. 10, 1876 1,477,460 Smith Dec. 11, 1923 1,888,840Wanner Nov. 22, 1932 2,198,509 Burke Apr. 23, 1940

